


No Kissing

by raefill



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, I'm living my best goth aesthetic andrew life, M/M, OKAY., Piercings, Soulmate AU where you discover your soulmate by experiencing their pain while touching them, okay?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-27 03:48:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17759228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raefill/pseuds/raefill
Summary: Andrew is present beside him, relaxed and handing over his money while Neil is the one lost in his head. He takes in Andrew’s profile, plump bottom lip now adorned with a streak of black. It accentuates the way Andrew’s lips round out a little, making him look poutier than before.He thinks he really wants to kiss him.AFTG Valentine's Day Exchange 2019





	No Kissing

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day @palmettto
> 
> This is my first ever aftg fic so I hope it's okay.

The Foxes are an odd group if you ask Neil. He’s been tagged one too many times in ‘relatable’ memes about how the innocent ones date bad boys. Firstly, hearing anyone use the word date to describe what he has with Andrew makes him fear for their lives in case Andrew overhears. Secondly, Andrew is so impossibly far from bad that it throws him for a loop. Thirdly, Neil is not innocent.

It may have taken him a while to catch on that they meant the way Andrew dresses, not his personality. Although, bad boy might be a step up from monster. Andrew seems to care significantly less about the entire situation than Neil, naturally. But Andrew isn’t the one who catches shit for his dress sense. What they would never dare say to Andrew’s face they will happily say to Neil.

How he took on the role of verbal punching bag for Andrew’s fashion choices he will never know. He doesn’t mind it, usually. Except that it’s about to get so much worse. 

Of all things for Andrew to experiment with it just had to be piercings, didn’t it? Neil doesn’t try to understand. Bee had spouted something about reclaiming bodies and that choosing a piercing to do so was one of many ways. Then Neil had zoned out because whenever Bee talks his consciousness takes a hike. 

Neil is pretty definite Andrew just found it a convenient excuse to make it look like he never  _ wanted _ a piercing. 

He’s almost painfully aware that, generally, if Andrew were to go out to do something like this in the past he would just leave and return like nothing happened. Except, when Neil had automatically gotten up to follow him outside, he hadn’t turned him away. Not that Neil had known they would end up end up stood outside a tattoo parlour. 

He hadn’t questioned it, too trusting, following Andrew to the heavily modded blonde woman at the reception desk like he wasn’t witnessing the ruin of his social life. 

“Labret,” was all Andrew had said. She’d nodded and waved them through to a smaller room in the back. Neil didn’t even know what a labret was until he was sat on the piercing table beside Andrew.

“Left or right?” She asks. Andrew lifts his hand, tapping the side of his lip closest to Neil. “Ring or stud?” 

“Black ring,” Andrew says. Neil watches him more closely than Andrew is obviously comfortable with, turning his head to raise an unimpressed eyebrow. Neil doesn’t look away though, unashamed of observing this trip he’s been allowed on. It feels like a show of trust in some small way and Neil intends to watch. 

He hopes, in the very back of his mind, that Andrew really has thought this through. Thought about being touched and having pain inflicted upon him by a stranger. From the looks of it, he has. He’s staring blankly at a spot on the wall, breathing steadily. More slowly and purposefully than usual. 

Neil lays his hand next to Andrew’s thigh on the bench in a show of support they can both pretend never happened. The piercer pulls on latex gloves with a loud snap, opening a small alcohol wipe. 

“I’m going to clean the area first, inside and out,” she says, “then draw a dot where the piercing will be and we can move it if you want, yeah?” She unfolds the alcohol wipe, looking expectantly at Andrew while Neil holds his breath.

“Yeah,” Andrew agrees. He almost covers it but Neil hears the tension in his voice. He’s known him too long, seen him in too many vulnerable moments. She nods, leaning forward. It’s over in a blink. But Andrew’s hand moves from his lap to lay on top of Neil’s just as fast. 

The dot is less work, just the touch of a pen nib against skin. When she holds up the mirror for Andrew to observe he actually looks, turning and tilting his head. Neil can breathe, then, knowing that Andrew is still present. Not that he can breathe freely with Andrew being so openly trusting. 

Andrew’s palm is a little clammy when he pulls it away. Neil expects Andrew to go back to lounging with his hands in his lap. Instead, he slides his hand off of Neil’s to rest beside it on the table. Saying close but certainly far enough that they’re no longer playing at holding hands. Neil can still feel the whisper of touch between their pinky fingers.

Andrew nods at the piercer, going back to staring at a point on the wall. 

“Just the clamp and then the needle, alright?” Andrew doesn’t respond to her. She seems to be used to that, though. She goes ahead with the clamp, only briefly touching Andrew’s lip to ensure the right position. “Breathe in,” she instructs. 

It feels like a deep scratch, pinching right through Neil’s lip. He flinches, free hand flying up to feel out the area. It takes him a moment too long to realise what happened. The piercer laughs, incredulous.

“You’re soulmates? Wow, that’s so rare,” she grins at them. As she pulls the ring through Andrew’s lip Neil feels the tug of it, stinging and raw. It’s Andrew’s pain through the barely present touch of their fingertips. His heart thrums, racing in his chest as Andrew continues to stare at a spot on the wall. 

He hadn't known. But Andrew must’ve. Andrew who picks him up over and over again. Andrew who put his hands on Neil’s face when Neil’s entire body was still in smithereens from Lola’s knife. 

“It is,” Neil agrees, hand still lingering on his face as the pain continues to ghost there. As Andrew doesn’t move his hand away. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. Shouldn’t matter. He already gave himself over to Andrew without knowing a single thing.

He looks down at where their fingers meet and then knows this is Andrew giving himself to Neil.

The entire process takes all of five minutes. Andrew is present beside him, relaxed and handing over his money while Neil is the one lost in his head. He takes in Andrew’s profile, plump bottom lip now adorned with a streak of black. It accentuates the way Andrew’s lips round out a little, making him look poutier than before. 

He thinks he really wants to kiss him.

“Here’s your aftercare leaflet,” she says. Andrew takes it from her without complaint, folding it and tucking it away in his pocket. Neil turns to wait in the car “-oh and by the way you two, no kissing for at least three weeks while it heals.” She’s grinning again, mostly at Neil and the look of betrayal on his face.

“‘Drew!” He says much louder than he intended to. Andrew finally looks at him then, eyes bright under the white studio lighting. The ring in his lip tilts and if not for that Neil would’ve missed it. But now Neil will never miss another moment that the corner of Andrew’s mouth twitches up ever again.

All the shit he’s going to catch from dating a bad boy suddenly feels worth it.

He makes a mental note to thank Bee.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/raefilll) / [ig](https://www.instagram.com/raefilll/) / [tumblr](https://shou-me-your-soba.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Let me know what you think~
> 
> Rae.


End file.
